The Portland Area Communication Research Core Center will support twelve principal investigators in its Research Base, each of whom has one or more qualifying R01 grants funded by the NIDCD and or another institute. Eight other investigators with similar research interests are also members of the Core Center. The twenty investigators are affiliated with a variety of institutes in the greater Portland area: the Oregon Hearing Research Center (OHRC) at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU); the Vollum Institute (OHSU); the Department of Otolaryngology; Head & Neck Surgery (OHSU); the Department of Biomedical Engineering (OHSU); the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) at the Portland Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center; and the Washington State University (WSU) Vancouver, which is just across the Columbia River from Portland. The group has a strong focus on and a substantial record of accomplishments in the auditory and vestibular sciences, with additional investigators interested in the olfactory system. The goal of the Core Center is to centralize expertise on bioengineering, imaging, and mouse genetics in order to enhance presently funded research projects and to stimulate collaborations among participating investigators. In order to achieve these goals, continued support of three Research Core facilities is proposed. The Bioengineering Core (Alfred Nuttall and Stephen David, Co-Directors) provides computer hardware and software support, support for design and construction of analog and digital circuits, as well as expertise and instrumentation for measurement of hearing acuity in live animals. The Imaging Core (Dennis Trune and Peter Steyger, Co-Directors) centralizes light, confocal, and electron-microscopic imaging through the existing Oregon Hearing Research Center infrastructure. The Mouse Core (Peter Gillespie and John Brigande, Co-Directors) provides expertise on mouse husbandry and genotyping, as well as in utero virus injection and plasmid electroporation to deliver exogenous genes into the inner ear. Support for an Administrative Shell is also requested. Support of the Core Center will facilitate increased efficiency, broader collaborations, and novel approaches in NIDCD-funded research projects.